Mandatory Commercial Recycling

Recycling is the third and most recognizable of the “Three Rs”--Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. By recycling and buying recycled-content products, every Californian can make a vital contribution to preserving our environment. Here are five good reasons to recycle:

It’s easy. Recycling in the home, school, and workplace can be easy and convenient. Most California communities have curbside recycling programs for paper, cardboard, plastic, bottles, cans, and other materials. Check with your local waste hauler or public works department to find out what can go into your curbside bin. Californians already divert from landfills about 65 percent of their trash--nearly double the national average--through recycling and reuse programs. Back in July 2012, recycling programs expanded to include most California businesses and multifamily housing, too. Ongoing or one-day community recycling events allow for proper disposal of items prohibited from landfills, including computers, TVs, batteries, fluorescent light bulbs, paint, used household hazardous waste products such as paint, and cell phones. Televisions, computer monitors, and other electronic waste that is no longer working and can’t be fixed can be taken to recycling centers--visit our e-waste webpage to locate one near you. For do-it-yourself mechanics, used motor oil can be taken to a local used oil recycling center. There are recycling opportunities everywhere that are easy and convenient!

It saves money. The first step to saving money is to shop smart: Buy recycled products when possible, and consider product packaging. Recycling can also put money in your pocket! Many beverage containers made of plastic, glass, and aluminum are redeemable for California Refund Value (CRV), which is 5 cents for containers less than 24 ounces and 10 cents for containers 24 ounces or larger. CalRecycle has a searchable database to help you find nearby beverage container buyback centers.

It creates jobs. Recycling is big business in California. It is a mainstream industry of statewide importance accounting for approximately 85,000 jobs and producing $10 billion in products and services per year. It is equivalent in size to the motion picture industry in California.

It saves energy. It takes 95 percent less energy to make an aluminum can out of recycled aluminum than out of raw virgin materials. Making glass from recycled material allows manufacturers to run their furnaces at lower temperatures, also saving energy.

It preserves natural resources. Reducing, reusing, and recycling cuts down on the amount of raw material needed to create new products, lessening the overall impact on natural resources. And by sending less material to landfills, Americans can put a dent in the amount of trash we produce each day: enough to fill the New Orleans Superdome top to bottom, twice a day.

AB 341 (2011) is a piece of legislation that will move California toward its new robust waste reduction goal. Currently, California as a whole diverts roughly 58% of its waste, but commercial businesses divert only 7% or less. This law will finally expand state recycling efforts to include businesses and multi-family dwellings.Recycling is not only the right thing to do, it is also the smart thing to do. Every day that recyclable materials are sent to landfills represents a missed opportunity to conserve resources, save energy and create new jobs.Beginning July 1, 2012 compliance with this law requires that affected businesses and multi family dwellings (apartment complex, mobile home, etc.) recycle. See below for details on who the law affects. Many of the businesses within your community have ongoing and robust recycling programs. If you currently have an established recycling program in your workplace, you are already compliant with the law.

What does this mean to me?This law means that if your business or multi-family dwelling has a large trash bin outside, you need to begin sorting and recycling. Patterson currently offer recycling service. Recycling reinforces a sense of pride in your community and says to your employees and customers, “we care and we are making a difference.” Recycling is beneficial in many ways.

Business Owners If you are the owner or manager of a business, government building, school, non-profit, etc. that generates four (4) cubic yards of waste or more weekly, you will need to work with your employees to see that recycling becomes a practice. The state required recycling as of July 1, 2012. It is the business owner’s, government' agencies, schools' , non-profit organizations', etc. responsibility to comply with this law.

Residents of Multi-Family DwellingsIf you are a resident of a multi-family dwelling that is larger than five units, this law applies to you and requires action on your part. It is important that you contact the manager of your complex and find out if they will be requiring you to implement recycling in your own residence. Owners of multi-family dwellings may comply with this law by requiring each resident to recycle on their own. If so, click here for information about how to begin recycling in your home. For more information about your next step, choose your city from the left-side navigation of this site and contact your hauler or your recycling coordinator. They will be able to give you the information about hauling and pick-up options for your recyclables.

What can I recycle? Many people want to recycle and don’t understand exactly what products they can recycle. Most recyclables are every day items that can be recycled easily. It’s not as hard as you think! Here is a list of all every day items that can be recycled:

Why should I recycle?
As the new commercial recycling law approaches, you may wonder why you should recycle. Many residents of multi-family dwellings wonder how it will benefit them to recycle. You have come to the right place. Below are some of the many reasons recycling at home will benefit you.
Recycling will improve the economy by creating jobs. Recycling 10,000 tons of waste creates roughly 36 jobs.
Recycling can ultimately lower the cost of fuel. Recycling helps reduce our dependence on foreign oil by saving energy, which lowers the cost for you at the pump.
Recycling keeps us out of debt. The higher fuel costs rise, the harder we have to work to keep up with them. Recycling and saving energy will help us stay out of debt.
Recycling reduces the cost of household products for consumers. Creating brand new packaging, metals, plastics, paper and other materials on average uses far more energy than recycling previously used materials. Recycling saves this energy, which reduces the cost of products for you, the consumer.
Recycling saves energy. Recycling one aluminum can alone saves enough energy to power your television for up to 3 hours.

In June of 2015, the Patterson City Council approved and adopted Ordinance Number 775 adding Chapter 6.14 toTITLE 6 - HEALTH AND SAFETY, of the City of Patterson's Municipal Code requiring a MANDATORY CONSTRUCTION AND DEMOLITION DEBRIS RECYCLING PROGRAM.

What is the purpose of the Construction and Demolition (C&D) ordinance?The ordinance requires all construction and demolition that meet the recycling requirement threshold to recycle 50% of the waste generated during the span of the project.

What is the threshold? ALL construction projects (new or additional) costing $100,000.00 or more and ALL demolition projects that are 1,000 square feet or more in size are required to recycle 50% of the waste they produce.

The C&D Waste Management Packet is to be filled out by all project holders who meets the threshold described above. For questions regarding the Waste Management Plan packet, please call (209) 895-8068.

The trash from a typical food service business contains up to 76% organic material that can be easily recycled. The Food Waste and Organics Recycling Program makes it easy for businesses to reduce the amount of trash going to landfills by recycling food waste and other organics. On average, a restaurant disposes of more than 50 tons of organics each year! Keep these materials out of the landfill by composting them into new earth-friendly products.

Who should participate? – Restaurants, grocery stores, produce markets, coffee houses, hotels, businesses with employee cafeterias, and all other businesses that generate organic waste can participate in the City’s Food Waste and Organics Recycling Program. Call for a FREE assessment.

Starting April 2016, AB 1826 will require businesses that generate 8 cubic yards of organic waste to arrange for organic waste recycling services.
Effective January 2017 this requirement will extend to businesses that generate 4 cubic yards of organic waste.

What is the purpose of the law?

•Mandatory recycling of organic waste is the next step toward achieving California’s aggressive recycling and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission goals. California disposes approximately 30 million tons of waste in landfills each year, of which more than 30 percent could be used for compost or mulch.
•Organic waste such as green materials and food materials are recyclable through composting and mulching, and through anaerobic digestion, which can produce renewable energy and fuel.

What is organic waste?

•Organic waste as defined in the law includes the following material: food waste, green waste, landscape and pruning waste, nonhazardous wood waste, and food-soiled paper waste that is mixed in with food waste.

Which businesses must comply with the law?

Businesses and public entities, including but not limited to a firm, partnership, proprietorship joint stock company, corporation, or association that is organized as a for-profit or nonprofit entity, strip mall (e.g., property complex containing two or more commercial entities), industrial facility, school, school district, California State University, community colleges, University of California, special district or a federal, state, local, regional agency or facility.
A business is required to comply with the new law if it generates a certain amount of waste after the specified date.

Multifamily Residential Dwelling A multifamily dwelling that consists of five or more units are required to recycle their green waste, but are not required to arrange for organic recycling services for food waste, including food-soiled paper.

•Multifamily dwellings of five units or more that generate the required threshold of organics or solid waste are not required to arrange for organic recycling services for food waste, including food-soiled paper.
•Multifamily dwellings of less than five units.
•Single-family homes, townhomes, and condominiums.

How to get started?

A business that meets the waste generation threshold shall engage in one of the following organic recycling activities:
•Source separate organic waste from other waste and participate in a waste recycling service that includes collection and recycling of organic waste.
•Recycle organic waste on site, or self-haul organic waste off site for recycling.
•Subscribe to an organic waste recycling service that may include mixed waste processing that specifically recycles organic waste.